In a varied career, Jacky Hui has leveraged his CPA status to work across sectors, including an energy supplier, a transport operator, and a statutory body

Rewarding roles

 

Like many people, Jacky Hui chose accounting for its clear career path, but unaware of the diverse opportunities it would present. “I was a science student in secondary school and had never studied business or accounting,” he reflects on his decision to pursue accounting and finance at The University of Hong Kong. “But as we all know, Hong Kong is a major international financial hub. I am someone who has strong numerical skills and that I believed I’d fit with accounting and finance. The course at HKU provided a good platform and many good opportunities to equip me as a professional businessperson with technical knowledge and skills to cooperate with different people. That’s very essential for the business world.”

His decision has resulted in a career notable for its diversity, with a variety of roles across different organizations. It began in a pretty conventional fashion, though – with a job as an auditor for a Big Four firm, EY. There, he worked for a spectrum of clients, covering both listed companies and large private enterprises, across various industries.

“It helped me to build a solid foundation,” he says. “Every engagement introduced me to different sorts of clients in different sectors, including manufacturing and retail. It was a steep learning curve but rewarding. Working for the Big Four gave me a macro-level understanding of the financials. When I transitioned to the commercial world, it gave me a sense of how to look at figures.”

He found his previous assurance work with multinational corporations and renewable energy clients particularly rewarding. “My audit experience with MNCs gave me international exposure, as many regions report to the Hong Kong head office and I needed to get in touch with regional teams, including Australia. I also conducted audits on renewable energy projects. Those were the major reasons why I got into my next job.”

After three years at EY, Jacky joined the power company CLP as an accounting officer, seeking a more hands-on role.

“CLP was expanding into renewables and I was involved in international business, mainly Australia and Mainland China. It was very fresh and new to me. I got a more concrete idea of how the commercial sector operates and the duties of a reporting team. I gained exposure in budgeting and forecasting, and my managers gave me lots of opportunities. In my later years there, I was able to support the corporate finance team and get involved in new business, and then I started to focus more on the investment appraisal on renewable energy projects. I also worked with the M&A team and the legal team on the due diligence process, and with the operations team. It was more of an all-round role, and it was really rewarding.”

 

Invaluable framework

 

Jacky completed his QP studies while at CLP, qualifying in 2018, after starting them at EY. “QP is well-recognized in our industry,” he says. “The workshops provide a lot of practical experience and you need to present in front of the whole class. The combination of workshops and textbook learning creates a practical platform. It’s more linked with the real-world workplace and how we need to present our ideas to clients – that mindset of professional accounting. The framework offered by QP is very useful for newcomers in the industry.”

After five years there, he shifted from a large commercial organization to a statutory body, the Hospital Authority (HA), where he worked as a corporate finance manager. This move was driven, he says, partly by his desire to advance to a managerial position and to experience the government sector and statutory reporting.

“Compared to the strategic focus of the commercial sector, working at HA shifted my focus more toward compliance with standards and risk management. It also gave me the opportunities to work with organizations like the HKMC and HKMA to manage investment placements and oversee loan arrangements.  This is another area I’m happy to develop.”

A year later, Jacky moved on to the MTR Corporation as a finance manager, where he still works and leads a team of 15 today, focusing on the rail operations, which also play a significant role in the property industry. While his roles is very different from his position at CLP, he finds that the skills and experience gained at the energy company have been beneficial to his current role. He’s also had to immerse in new areas, he adds, spending half of his time on engineering projects, meaning a steep learning curve in technical terminology.

His role has also evolved to include non-financial elements. One aspect  he enjoys most, he says, is the ability it affords him to shepherd projects that contribute to the company’s sustainability initiatives. His responsibilities extend to the MTR’s stations, including establishing electric vehicle charging stations in its car parks. “I focus more on this kind of environmentally friendly projects. I need to understand these projects and develop investment strategies and appraisals by building various financial models with valid assumptions to support senior management decision-making. It’s something I find very satisfying.”

Interview and reporting by Richard Lord